The history of the puttanesca sauce is interesting. Some say, because of the Italian translation of the name, puttanesca, which means prostitute, a whore’s favorite meal. But I know a much likelier version of this history from my mom’s home town, the island of Ischia. Apparently, it was late one night and clients showed up to their favorite restaurant in Ischia, Italy. The owner quickly informed them he was about to close and thus didn’t have anything to serve them…The clients, being very hungry as they were, simply replied, “Facci una puttanata qualsiasi”, meaning just cook us anything! So the owner turned around and using what he had left in his kitchen, he improvised that night and created the puttanesca sauce!
Ingredients:
One 25 oz jar 825 MAIN Marinara Sauce
1 Tbl extra virgin olive oil
5 anchovy filets packed in olive oil (chopped)
1/2 cup chopped green olives or black kalamata olives
1/3 cup sherry wine
3 Tbl of small capers
1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes
Procedure:
Heat EVOO in large heavy skillet and melt chopped anchovies till it turns to paste like. Add jar of Marinara Sauce and rest of the ingredients. Simmer 15 minutes. Then pour over your favorite cooked pasta.
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 4